Yom Kippur

[Webers_Home]

-
Yom Kippur is not a day to celebrate. It's a day to afflict oneself; which
Webster's defines as causing distress so severely as to cause persistent
suffering and/or anguish. (Lev 16:29, 16;31, 23;27, and 23:32)

The penalty for failure to cause oneself persistent suffering and/or anguish is
cutting off. (Lev 23:29)

Why is Yom Kippur such a depressing day? Well; that's not too hard to figure
out.

There's a goat involved in Yom Kippur commonly called a scapegoat.
However, it's not really a scapegoat, in reality it's an escaping goat; viz: a
fugitive.

Every sin the people ever committed is ceremoniously placed on the goat
and it's then turned loose. Well; that right there is a very bad thing for Jews
because in order for their sins to be pardoned, it's necessary for the sin
bearing goat to be put to death and burned on the Altar. So what? Well; I'll
tell you so what. It means that the people's sins go unpunished; viz; the sins
placed on the goat are still on the books hanging over the people's heads
like a sword of Damocles and one day will be brought to justice. Now if that
isn't reason enough to be depressed, then I give up.

Q: Why every sin the people ever committed?

A: Because there is not even one offering in the entire Levitical catalogue
that suffices to delete the people's sins. The only thing that those sacrifices
obtain for them is a reprieve; which is a temporary delay, not a permanent
fix. In other words: forgiveness in the Old Testament acquits no one; Old
Testament forgiveness merely puts justice on hold. (Ex 34:7, Rom 3:25-26,
Heb 10:1-4)

NOTE: Some people, unfamiliar with animal husbandry, think that leaving a
goat out in a wilderness place to fend for itself is a death sentence. No; far
from it. Goats are survivors. They can get by in environments that quite a
few other species would find quite disagreeable. And though the Jews were
in a wilderness place, there was vegetation enough for the herds. (Ex 34:3)

/

 

[Born_Again]

If its not doctrinaly sound, then why is it celebrated? I dont understand. Who thought it up?

 

[Webers_Home]

If its not doctrinaly sound, then why is it celebrated? I dont understand.
Who thought it up?

Not all Jews regard that day as festive. Conscientious Jews spend the day in
prayer, repentance, fasting, and synagogue.

/

 

[Born_Again]

Not all Jews regard that day as festive. Conscientious Jews spend the day in
prayer, repentance, fasting, and synagogue.

/

Ah, Okay. Thanks!

 

[epostle1]

[SIZE=10pt]Zechariah was acting as high priest when the birth of St. John the baptizer was announced to him in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. That would have been on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement which falls in late September. St. John was conceived shortly thereafter during Sukkot, the Festival of Booths.

At the Annunciation, the BV Mary was told that Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant. That would have been in late March. (BTW the feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25th in the Roman Calendar. [/SIZE]

Nine months later Jesus was born sometime in late December.

Now there is an interesting coincidence with all this. St. John would have been born near the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) everyday after that would get shorter until the Winter Solstice six months later, which is the shortest day of the year. Every day after that would get longer. In the First Century the Winter Solstice fell on December 25th.

It would be fitting that Jesus would have been born on the shortest day of the year because he is the "Light of the World":

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Everyday after his birth there was more light.

Also St. John the Baptizer said of himself:

He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Which is exactly what happened to the daylight after their respective births. (This was the point St. Augustine made in his championing the celebration of Jesus' birth on the Winter Solstice).

So despite the objections of some pundits, December 25th is a very reasonable date to celebrate Jesus' birth and not a concession to paganism.

 

[epostle1]

[SIZE=10pt]The Winter Solstice was NOT a Roman Civil holiday until 274 AD. The Emperor Aurelian made December 25th a civil holiday because the Christians were already using it to celebrate the Birth of Jesus and he was trying to detract from the Christian celebration![/SIZE]

None of the Sun Cults used December 25th before then. It appears that the Winter Solstice was originally a CHRISTIAN feast that the pagans tried to paganize, not the other way around.

There were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.

"Augustine, Sermones, XII;

 

[heretoeternity]

Dec 25th seems to come from ancient Babylon and their sungod worshipping...seems that the Roman system adopted this day from the Babylonians of 400 years BC.

 

[Webers_Home]

-
● Lev 16:30 . . For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you,
to cleanse you; that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

I'm going to deliberately misquote that verse in order to bring out an
important point,

"For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to acquit you,
that you may be absolved from all your sins before the LORD."

No; that particular atonement neither acquits nor absolves. Let me explain.

It's said that a bell can't be un-rung. That's right; bells can be silenced, but
their rings cannot be returned once they leave the bell.

Were someone to fall in a mud puddle, they can wash the mud off, but it is
impossible to undo their fall because that part of their mishap is historical;
they cannot turn back the clock.

What I'm saying is: Lev 16:30 de-contaminates the people, sanitizing
them for worship; but does nothing to undo their history. Ergo: the
people's sins remain on the books; hanging about their necks like the
proverbial albatross. Is it any wonder then why Yom Kippur is a day of
sorrow rather than a day of cheer?

/

 

[shnarkle]

-
Yom Kippur is not a day to celebrate. It's a day to afflict oneself; which
Webster's defines as causing distress so severely as to cause persistent
suffering and/or anguish. (Lev 16:29, 16;31, 23;27, and 23:32)

The penalty for failure to cause oneself persistent suffering and/or anguish is
cutting off. (Lev 23:29)

Why is Yom Kippur such a depressing day? Well; that's not too hard to figure
out.

There's a goat involved in Yom Kippur commonly called a scapegoat.
However, it's not really a scapegoat, in reality it's an escaping goat; viz: a
fugitive.

Every sin the people ever committed is ceremoniously placed on the goat
and it's then turned loose. Well; that right there is a very bad thing for Jews
because in order for their sins to be pardoned, it's necessary for the sin
bearing goat to be put to death and burned on the Altar. So what? Well; I'll
tell you so what. It means that the people's sins go unpunished; viz; the sins
placed on the goat are still on the books hanging over the people's heads
like a sword of Damocles and one day will be brought to justice. Now if that
isn't reason enough to be depressed, then I give up.

Q: Why every sin the people ever committed?

A: Because there is not even one offering in the entire Levitical catalogue
that suffices to delete the people's sins. The only thing that those sacrifices
obtain for them is a reprieve; which is a temporary delay, not a permanent
fix. In other words: forgiveness in the Old Testament acquits no one; Old
Testament forgiveness merely puts justice on hold. (Ex 34:7, Rom 3:25-26,
Heb 10:1-4)

NOTE: Some people, unfamiliar with animal husbandry, think that leaving a
goat out in a wilderness place to fend for itself is a death sentence. No; far
from it. Goats are survivors. They can get by in environments that quite a
few other species would find quite disagreeable. And though the Jews were
in a wilderness place, there was vegetation enough for the herds. (Ex 34:3)

/

I see it a bit differently. For one thing, there are two goats. The first one is slaughtered while the second one is sent into the wilderness. The wilderness isn't usually associated with freedom in the bible. I can't think of any places where that occurs. There are a number of parallels in scripture though. The trial of Jesus comes to mind when the crowd is given a choice between Christ and Barabbas. Christ being the goat that is sacrificed, Barabbas being the goat that is set loose. Then there's also the Day of Judgement when satan is cast into the lake of fire which seems to me to be what is really going on with this idea of placing the sins on the goat. All of these sins committed belong on satan's head. He's the father of lies and at some point, they will return to satan. Barabbas could also personify our release from sin as well on some level.

Rather than go with the translators idea of "scapegoat", I prefer to use the Hebrew word which is "Azazzel". It just simply sounds evil. I don't see how it could be referring to anyone other than satan.

 

[shnarkle]

Zechariah was acting as high priest when the birth of St. John the baptizer was announced to him in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. That would have been on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement which falls in late September. St. John was conceived shortly thereafter during Sukkot, the Festival of Booths. [/size][/size]

At the Annunciation, the BV Mary was told that Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant. That would have been in late March. (BTW the feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25th in the Roman Calendar.

Nine months later Jesus was born sometime in late December.

Now there is an interesting coincidence with all this. St. John would have been born near the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year) everyday after that would get shorter until the Winter Solstice six months later, which is the shortest day of the year. Every day after that would get longer. In the First Century the Winter Solstice fell on December 25th.

It would be fitting that Jesus would have been born on the shortest day of the year because he is the "Light of the World":

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Everyday after his birth there was more light.

Also St. John the Baptizer said of himself:

He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Which is exactly what happened to the daylight after their respective births. (This was the point St. Augustine made in his championing the celebration of Jesus' birth on the Winter Solstice).

So despite the objections of some pundits, December 25th is a very reasonable date to celebrate Jesus' birth and not a concession to paganism.[/size]

The dates sound right, but not the events. The best clue to figure this out is to look at when Zacharias was required to perform his priestly duties. His was the course of Abia (Luke 1:5) which would have been around mid June (for more info. see the 24 Davidic courses mentioned in the O.T.). Upon his arrival home after his week was up, he would have then informed, presumably in writing; his wife Elizabeth that unless she had sexual relations with him, he would never speak to her again. Some may argue that Elizabeth would have probably spent quite some time contemplating the ramifications of this revelation. Given that they were probably observant Levites, I suspect that she would have complied immediately and conceived just as fast. Coincidently, this fits with the dates we've been given and points to the conception of our Lord taking place six months later(Luke 1:36) on or around December 25th. The other dates fall right into place, i.e. John's conception(June), and birth (March 25th) as well as Jesus' birth nine months later at the end of September during the Feast of Tabernacles. Some marginal notes preserve this wordplay with, "and the word became flesh and tabernacled among us"